Visitors will be fined a maximum of 100 yuan ($16) if they feed animals in non-feeding zones at parks in Beijing, under a regulation to take effect in the second half of this year.

Visitors who threaten, hit, injure or feed animals in non-feeding areas face a fine of between 50 yuan and 100 yuan.

The regulation, drawn up by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry, will cover 46 main parks across the capital, according to a news release from the bureau.

Visitors will also be fined a maximum of 50 yuan if they spit. Illegal climbing of park walls, barriers and fences will be punished with a maximum fine of 20 yuan, under the regulation.

The new rule was published in 2002, but bureau officers spent a considerable amount of time on how to define "main parks", the Beijing News reported on Monday.